Real Men Say No
by Ultrawoman
Summary: One-Shot. Set late in Season 3. Mac and Weevil finally go on their first date together - is he really everything she expected? MacWeevil. Part of the 'Real Men' series.


**A/N: So, I suddenly realised this was still sitting there on my hard-drive, written but never posted, so I figured now was as good a time as any! A little MacWeevil continuation to the less-than-frequent 'Real Men' series :-)**

_**Disclaimer: All recognisable chaacters from Veronica Mars belong to Rob Thomas and other important people who aren't me!**_

Real Men Say No

It was more than a little surreal for Mac when she stood in the doorway to her closet, contemplating what a girl might wear to go on a date, in ten minutes time, with Eli 'Weevil' Navarro. It wasn't exactly a situation she ever really believed she would find herself in and yet thanks to her strange talk with Veronica and one semi-brave phone call, here she was, on date night with Weevil, a little over a year since he asked her the question in the first place.

The surreal and weird had continued when he came to pick her up. Walking down the halls of the college beside a guy she never for a moment thought would have any interest in her, getting into his car and strangely not feeling at all nervous about not knowing where she was being taken.

What seemed most odd to Mac was how odd she _didn't_ feel once she started to relax into this whole thing. Not knowing what to expect might be fun and exciting for a girl like Veronica, but for Mac it was a little scary truth be told. With her track record, it was hardly surprising and though Weevil had noticed she seemed like she wasn't entirely sure she should be here, he wasn't offended and never called her on it.

He knew her dating history; Cassidy Casablancas, who everyone addressed with the cute but degrading nickname of Beaver, had turned out to be the worst kind of bad guy. Then he'd seen her with the dude from the anti-animal cruelty group, which made some sense to Weevil but didn't seem to last long. Most recent, he'd heard she was the girl hauled up in a room with the guy that sold old term papers as study guides. If it was the same guy he thought, then his previous woman used to dance naked at the Dragon Bar, and that was not the kind of rep a guy that Mac dated should have.

Of course, Weevil was all too aware of his own reputation these days, and maybe not quite as proud as he used to be in high school. He figured he'd done all his growing up at a young age, but things just kept on surprising him lately. What he hadn't figured out yet was he was due one more surprise before the evening was out.

Mac had an idea in her head that wasn't going to leave any time soon. Maybe it was because tonight hadn't turned out quite as she expected, perhaps it was helped along by the alcohol she'd consumed, though very little of it had passed her lips. Perhaps she just hadn't thought this all through, something that was very unlike Mac, the girl who was more likely to over-think than anything else. Of course, this wasn't computers or math or anything concrete. Relationships were all kinds of tricky, as she was about to be reminded.

Dinner had been great and the movie had been fun, there was no denying that Mac and Weevil really had a good time together, as odd as the concept might seem at first glance. They found a few things they had in common, some music they both liked and movie interests that they shared. They talked about high school and compared notes on the hateful 09ers and all, even getting onto the topic that best linked them - Veronica. They both had spy-related tales to tell thanks to her, and it was nice to share them with somebody else who understood.

It was getting late by the time he said he ought to take her back to the dorms. It was only on the car ride back that Weevil really noticed a change in Mac. Though she appeared to have had a really good time tonight, and he knew he had too, she now seemed disappointed almost, sighing heavy and looking a little sad. Maybe he was imagining it, that's what he told himself, but when they reached the parking lot of Hearst and nothing had changed, he decided to call her on it.

"So, tonight was kind of an experiment for you, right?" he checked, as he shut off the engine and looked across at her.

"Experiment?" she checked with a frown.

"Yeah, I mean, you never dated a guy like me before so you figured you'd give it a shot but... well, I'm guessin' I didn't measure up to expectations, right?" he said, looking just a little hurt for knowing that but hiding it well.

Mac immediately shook her head.

"No, Weevil, you're not the disappointment" she promised him, feeling every kind of stupid, as she unclipped her seat belt and shifted to move quickly out of the car, "I am" she said, as she got out, half hoping he wouldn't even bother to follow her - she ought to have known better.

"Hey, what's up with you?" he called after her, giving chase when she hurried away, tugging gently at her arm to turn her around, "I thought we had a good time?" he said with a frown that he couldn't help.

"We did, I just..." she faltered then, feeling stupid.

How Mac supposed to explain what she was feeling without making an even bigger idiot out of herself, she had no idea. She had a good time tonight, that was true. The talking was good, the movie was fun, the dinner was great, and Weevil was such a gentleman. He opened doors for her, he paid for everything. He said that despite appearances he'd been raised right and knew how to treat a lady, and Mac had blushed at the idea of being such a fine woman as to earn that title.

Unfortunately, this perfect evening was missing a little something that she'd really been expecting. Not once had he tried to hold her hand, slip an arm around her, or lean in for a kiss. It felt to Mac as if she were being kept at arms length, leading her to assume that he just didn't find her attractive. Of course, there was the option that he was being overly cautious with her because she was very different to his usual type of girl, and this thought only occurred to her now, as she and Weevil stood opposite each other in the college parking lot, him waiting for an answer she didn't have words enough to give.

In a moment that was perhaps founded in madness, Mac just threw caution to the wind, pushing herself towards Weevil and crushing her lips against his own. It wasn't like she'd never kissed a guy before, she'd had three serious boyfriends at this point and slept with two of them, she knew how to kiss but she'd never really done this before. Mac hadn't ever just thrown herself at a guy on a first date and hoped for the best, but apparently she was doing it now. Thankfully, he didn't react with disgust or humour, this she realised when he started to kiss her back in such a way as to make her knees want to buckle under her own weight. She was entirely glad that when he moved out of the kiss, Weevil's arms at least stayed around her, else she would be worried about falling down.

"This ain't the time and place for this" he told her, swallowing hard, still recovering a little from the shock of her launching herself at him in as such a way and from the realisation that she was a hell of a kisser.

"Well, we could go to my dorm room..." she suggested, glad that the blush in her cheeks might at least be somewhat hidden by the darkness of the evening and her hair casting shadows on her face.

"Hey" he said too sharply, her eyes shooting up to meet his then, "Look, Mac, I know I got a rep and all but... I ain't into takin' advantage of women, y'know?" he said, pushing her hair back behind her ear, "We got all the time in the world to get where we're going. Doesn't all have to be tonight, you hear what I'm sayin', chica?" he explained, finding her oddly adorable as well as sexy in this particular moment.

Mac felt kind of dumb right now. She ought to have known that she was being a fool throwing herself at a guy like that. His rejection might have hurt more if he hadn't done it in such a beautiful way. He was mindful of taking advantage of a situation, of either pushing her into something or allowing her to follow through on a decision she might later regret. Truth be told, he was right. Falling headfirst into this too soon wasn't going to make it work any better, if anything it might just spoil everything.

"Y'know, if I hadn't liked you enough before..." she sighed, feeling a little foolish even starting that sentence.

"Hey, just 'cause I come from the wrong side of the tracks" he smiled, "don't mean I don't know how to treat a lady" he reminded her.

Mac's eyes went to the ground then, and she felt stupid as tears welled up without her ever meaning for it to happen.

"I'm not exactly a lady" she told him, not even looking at him.

His finger under her chin tilted her head up til she was facing him again, then he answered her.

"Yeah, you are" he promised her, pressing his lips to hers in a brief sweet kiss, "Now, you gonna give me the chance to be some kinda gentleman again soon?" he asked in such a way it made her giggle and forget she was ever close to crying, as he turned her around and set about walking towards her dorm room, his arm around her shoulders.

"That sounds good" she agreed, "but it might be a while" she said, smile slipping some as she looked sideways at Weevil, as a thought occurred to her, "I'm supposed to be heading out on vacation with my folks the day after tomorrow. We'll be gone all Summer"

"I'll still be here when you come back, chica" he promised her, "Ain't exactly like I'm gonna go nowhere, is it?"

"I hope not" Mac replied genuinely, really glad she'd taken a chance tonight.

Her first date with a real man hadn't exactly gone how she thought; if anything, it had been better.

The End


End file.
